Sooner Lose Myself
by OrenjiTsundere626
Summary: What would happen if Jack found Ralph just before the boys got rescued off the island? Sweet, innocent fluff. They're so cute. :3


**This takes place in the page break on page 200. One-shot, fluff, etc. Enjoy!**

_Ralph screamed, a scream of fright and anger and desperation. His legs straightened, the screams became continuous and foaming. He shot forward, burst the thicket, was in the open, screaming, snarling, bloody. He swung the stake and the savage tumbled over; but there were others coming toward him, crying out. He swerved as a spear flew past and then was silent, running. All at once the lights flickering ahead of him merged together, the roar of the forest rose to thunder and a tall bush directly in his path burst into a great fan-shaped flame. He swung to the right, running desperately fast, with the heat beating on his left side and the fire racing forward like a tide. The ululation rose behind him and spread along, a series of short sharp cries, the sighting call. A brown figure showed up at his right and fell away. They were all running, all crying out madly. He could hear them crashing in the undergrowth and on the left was the hot, bright thunder of the fire. He forgot his wounds, his hunger and thirst, and became fear; hopeless fear on flying feet, rushing through the forest toward the open beach. Spots jumped before his eyes and turned into red circles that expanded quickly till they passed out of sight. Below him someone's legs were getting tired and the desperate ululation advanced like a jagged fringe of menace and was almost overhead. He stumbled over a root and the cry that pursued him rose even higher. He saw a shelter burst into flames and the fire flapped at his right shoulder and there was the glitter of water. Then he was down, rolling over and over in the warm sand, crouching with arm to ward off, trying to cry for mercy._

**~This Is Where My Part Of The Story Starts~**

Suddenly Ralph felt a hand clasp around his arm, and he cried out again, trying to wrench his wrist out of its grasp. Another hand clamped over his mouth, silencing his yell, and this was when Ralph realized this was the end. Conflicted between giving up and struggling, he ended up sobbing uncontrollably, tears streaming from his wide, desperate eyes, and half-stumbling with his captor towards the pink stone platform of the boys' old meeting place.

He was thrown down harshly onto the stone and his breath left his lungs with a _whoof_. Gasping for breath, he scrambled futilely for the cover of the jungle, but the savage who had caught him seized his bony shoulder and flipped him onto his back. Ralph finally got a good look at this particular savage, and realized it was Jack crouched over him, knife raised to finish him off, and something inside him broke.

"Jack," Ralph gasped, choking on his own tears. "Jack, you don't know what you're doing! It's me," he cried, clutching the older boy's shoulders and giving them a shake. "It's me, Jack, it's - " He paused for a much-needed breath, as he was struggling for air. "Please, Jack, please!"

Was it Ralph's imagination, or did something soften in Jack's piercing blue eyes, those eyes Ralph had come to rely on, to maybe even love?

"Please," Ralph panted, looking desperately for some part of the Jack he knew. "Jack, please."

The look in Jack's eyes hardened again into impenetrable diamonds and he drew back the knife again, breathing heavily, teeth bared in an animal-like snarl. Ralph shrunk away from the cruel glint of the blade, his eyes tightly shut, and waited for the final blow.

It didn't come.

Ralph cracked open one eyelid tentatively and looked at Jack again. He had lowered his knife and relaxed a bit, and Ralph opened his eyes all the way and saw Jack drop his knife to the ground with a clatter. Ralph barely had time to take another breath before it was nearly crushed from his lungs when Jack swept him into his sinewy arms, gathering the fair boy against his pounding chest. "Ralph," Jack breathed. "Oh, thank God…"

Ralph buried his face in Jack's shoulder, trying in vain to hide the grateful tears running down his face, until he realized Jack was crying too. Ralph lifted his head and gazed into Jack's watery eyes, which were looking back at him with equal intensity. "Jack, I thought I'd lost you."

"I would sooner lose myself." Jack, still holding Ralph in his arms, sat up and leaned against a tree so Ralph was curled up against his chest. Ralph traced aimless circles on the older boy's tanned skin, trying to count the freckles scattered across his body like stars. Eventually he nodded off in Jack's embrace, and Jack, paying no matter to the boys who still ravaged the trees, watched his love sleep for a long time until the sun came up, and then together they stumbled out into the brightness of the beach, hand in hand.

**~Insert Rest Of Story Here, Slightly Modified To Fit This Fanfic~**


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